1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a robust, stress-resistant, mutant strain of the bioluminescent marine dinoflagellate Pyrocystis lunula.
2. Description of the Related Art
Luminescent bacteria have been used for many years as the assay organism in various commercial toxicity tests, as described in Chapter 4, "Bioluminescence Assays" by Anthony A. Bulich, pp. 57-74 in G. Bitton and B. J. Dutka (eds.) TOXICITY TESTING USING MICRO ORGANISMS, Vol. I, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla.
NRL Memorandum Report 5738 by Hannan, Stiffey and Jarvis dated Mar. 17, 1986 and entitled Bioluminescence as the Basis for the Detection of Trichothecenes describes the use of the marine dinoflagellate Pyrocystis lunula for detecting a diminution of light output which could indicate the presence of certain trichothecenes, popularly known as "yellow rain" compounds. Of the nine trichothecenes tested, five had no effect on the dinoflagellates, but four caused a dimunition of light output of the Pyrocystis lunula.
Until the development of the stress-resistant organism described and claimed herein, the bioluminescent dinoflagellate Pyrocystis lunula was not used as the assay organism in a commercial bioassay, perhaps because Pyrocystis lunula is a relatively fragile organism, easily killed by rough handling or moderate centrifugal forces.